Sewing machine



arch 24, 1942. s, B, BILGER SEWING MACHINE s SheetsSheet 1 Filed April9, 1940 March 24, 1942. s. B. BILGER SEWING MACHINE Filed April 9, 19403 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 24, 1942. a B, BILGg SEWING MACHINE Filed April9, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 24, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT.OFFICE Application April 9, 1940, Serial No. 328,767

6 Claims.

This invention relates to sewing machines, and

has for one of its principal objects to provide means to renderautomatic and fool-proof the operation of certain parts of sewingmachineswhich heretofore have required manual operation, thus to enablesewing machines to be operated more rapidly than heretofore.

Another principal object of the invention is to provide a sewing machineembodying means to insure that, whenever the machine is stoppedfollowing any given period of operation thereof, the parts thereof willcome to rest in positions to permit work to be freely removed from andapplied to the machine without danger of damage to the work or breakageof the thread.

Another principal object of the invention is to provide simple,practical means for the purposes stated which may readily be embodied invarious different sewing machines as at present constructed withoutmaterial alterations to the machines.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become morefully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, thesame consists in the novel features of construction, combination andarrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawings and definedin the appendedclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of referencedenotecorresponding parts in the different views:

Fig. l is a central, vertical section through a sewing machine includingthe features of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section takenapproximately on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal section showing the means for operativelyconnecting and discon necting the motor with and from the machine. Fig.4 is an end elevation of the head of the machine with the cover plateand the thread ten- ,sioning device removed therefrom.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken approxithrough the spring devicewhich insures that when the sewing machine stops the presser foot andthe needle bar will be raised and the thread tensioning device will bereleased.

Fig. 9 is a transverse section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8; and

Fig. 10 is a detail view illustrating by full and dotted lines thecooperation of certain parts of the mechanism.

In order to illustrateapplication of the mechanism comprising theinvention to a sewing machine, there has arbitrarily been selected forthis purpose a well known type of power driven, domestic sewing machinewhich derives its power from an'electric motor under the control of arheostat including a lever which is positioned for knee actuation by theoperator of the machine. It is to be understood, however, that some orall of the features comprising the invention may readily be embodied insewing machines of various other types, and that, therefore, the instantillustration of the mechanism as adapted to and incorporated in a sewingmachine of the specific type mentioned is not to be construed aslimiting.

The sewing machine illustrated is of the drophead, cabinet type andcomprises a cabinet or supporting structure designated generally as Aand a drop-head designated generally as B, which is pivoted, asindicated at a, (Fig. 2) to the cabinet or supporting structure A forswinging movement between a raised or operative position, as shown inFigs. 1 and 2, and a lowered or stored position in which it is disposedwithin said cabinet or supporting structure below the top thereof inaccordance with common and well known practice.

As usual, a main drive shaft I0 is journaled in the head B, a hand wheelIt is provided on said shaft, an electric motor I2 is pivotally mountedon the head B as indicated at l3, a friction wheel I4 is provided on thearmature shaft of said motor for cooperation with the periphery of thehand wheel II, and suitable spring means i5 is provided to swing themotor l2 in a direction to cause its friction wheel 14 to engage theperiphery of the hand wheel ll whereby operation of the motor I2 iseffective to drive the shaft ID.

The shaft l0 drives the various different movable operating parts of thesewing machine in known manner, but for the sake of clearness inillustrating the mechanism comprising the invention, various parts ofthe sewing machine with which the invention is not concerned have beenomitted, only those parts with which the disposed and mounted in thehead 13 for vertical.

movement between lowered and raised, operative and inoperativepositions, respectively, being urged constantly downward by a spring ll;(2) I the thread tensioning device designated generally as l8 (Fig. 5)which, by known means, is released or rendered inoperative when thepresser foot shaft I6 is raised and is applied or rendered operativewhenthe presser foot shaft is lowered; and (3) the thread take-up arm H!which is pivoted to the head B as indicated at and which has a roller 2|disposed in a cam groove 22 in a cam block 23 mounted on the drive shaftl0 whereby it is oscillated between raised and lowered posi- (see Fig.'l), bears against said disk under the spring influence of said arm andthereby causes said disk to act to tension the thread. "Further and alsoas usual, the means whereby the thread tensioning device It is releasedwhen the presser foot shaft i6 is raised, comprises a member 29 pivotedto the head Band including a finger 3d and a cam lip 3|, the former ofwhich cooperates with the spring arm 21 and the latter of which hascooperating therewith a pin 32 on the lever 2 the arrangement in thisrespect being such that when the lever 24 is raised to raise the presserfoot shaft IS the pin 32 cooperates with the cam lip 3| to swing themember 29 in a direction to cause its finger 30 to flex the spring arm21 away from the disk 26 and thereby release tension on the thread, andwhen the lever 24 is lowered to lower the presser foot shaft, the member29 is released and the spring arm 2'! thereby is permittedto act throughits pin 28 upon the disk 25 to tension the thread.

The usual vertical needle bar 33 is slidably mounted for verticalreciprocation in front of the presser foot shaft l6 and is connected bya link 34 to an eccentric pin 35 on the cam block 23 whereby it isreciprocated in response to rotation of the main drive shaft l9. 7

Referring now to the mechanism comprising the invention, 35 designates abar which is mounted beneath the base 31 of the head B for longitudinalsliding movement in suitable bearing lugs 38 depending from said baseand which is disposed horizontally and extends parallel or sub-'stantially parallel to the head B. Suitably fixed to and extendingupwardly from this bar into the hollow pedestal 39 of the head" B is anarm 40, while suitably fixed at its inner end to the upper end of saidarm and extending horizontally through the head B below and parallel tothe main drive shaft I0, is a rod 4| which, at its outer end, isoperatively connected with a horizontally pivoted, swingable member 42which carries a finger 43 having a free end portion underiving the block25 on the presser foot shaft IS.

The member 42 is disposed inwardly of the presser foot shaft l6 and ispivoted at its lower end, as indicated at 44, to the head B for swingingmovement toward and away from said presser foot shaft l5. Moreover, thefinger 43 has its free end portion related to said member 42 and to theblock 25 so that when said member" is swung outwardly or toward thepresser foot shaft IS a predetermined amount from a substantiallyvertically disposed position, the free end portion of said finger islowered 'sufliciently to permit the presser foot shaft to assume itslowered operative position, and when said member 42 is swung inwardly oraway from said presser foot shaft to a substantially-vertically disposedposition, the free end portion of the finger 43 is raised sufficientlytoact by its engagement with the bottom of the block 25 to lift thepresser foot shaft l5 to its raised or inoperative position.-

The rod 4| is opera ively connected to the member 42 as indicated at 65at a point above the pivot M of said member. Accordingly, outwardshifting movement of the rod 6! is effective to swing said member 42 ina direction to permit the presser foot shaft to move downwardly to itsoperative position, and inward shifting movement of said rod 4| iseffective to swing said member 52 in a direction to raise the presserfoot shaft to its inoperative position.

Any suitable stop means may be provided to cooperate with the bar 36,the rod ll and the member 42 to limit pivotal movement of said member 62between positions in which the presser foot shaft i3 is lowered andraised to its operalive and inoperative positions, respectively, andspring means of any suitable type associated in any suitable manner withthe bar 365, the arm 40, the rod M or the member 32, is provided to tendconstantly to shift the bar 36 and the rod 4| to their limits of inwardmovement in which the member 42 is disposed vertically or substantiallyvertically and the finger 43 acts through the block 25 to hold thepresser foot shaft IS in its raised or inoperative position.

In the present instance the spring means referred to comprises asubstantially vertically dis posed tension coil spring 46 within thepedestal 39- of the head B, suitably anchored at its upper end, asindicated at 41, and connected at itslower end with a substan'iallyhorizontally disposed arm 48 of a bell-crank lever 49 pivoted to saidpedestal 39 and having its other-downwardly directed arm 59 operativelyconnected with the arm 40. as indicated at 5|. Thus, the spring 45 tendsconstantly to swing the bell-crank lever 49 in a direction to shift thearm 40, the bar 38 and the rod 4| to their limits of inward movement inwhich the finger 43 is raised and holds the presser foot shaft IS in itsraised or inoperative position.

Normally, the lever 24 is not used, but preferably it is retained as apart of the sewing machine in order that the presser foot shaft l6, if

desired, may be manually raised to and held in its elevated orinoperative position. Accordingly,

if the lever 24 is retained, it will normally be disposed in its loweredposition as illustrated by full lines in Fig. 4 so that it does not inany way affect the operation of the sewing machine or of the mechanismconstitutingthe present-invention.

Heretofore, it was necessary, following any given sewing operation, tomanually actuate the lever 24 to elevate the presser foot shaft l6 andthereby lift the presser foot 52 to release the work, this operation ofthe lever 24 resulting in simultaneous release of the thread tensioningmeans l8 due to the cooperation of the pin 32 on said lever with the camlip 3| of the member 29 and to the cooperation of the finger '30 of saidmember 29 with the spring arm 21 of the thread tensioning device.However, according to the present invention, at the beginning of anygiven period of operation of the sewing machine the rod 4| is shiftedoutwardly to a position to permit lowering of the presser foot shaft l5to its operative position by its spring l1, and is held in this positionduring the sewing operation, being released, however, when the sewingoperation is completed. Upon release of said rod 4|, the spring 46 actsimmediately to return some to its normal position, thereby causing themember 42 to be swung to elevate the presser foot shaft l6.

Thus, instead of the operator of the sewing machine being required toactuate the lever 24 to lift the presser foot upon completion of anygiven sewing operation, lifting of the presser foot is.

automatically effected by the spring 46 upon release of the bar 36 andthe rod 4|.

In order to provide for release of. the thread tensioning means I8 uponelevation of the presser foot shaftl6 and independently of operation ofthe lever 26, the presser foot shaft is provided with a finger 53 which,in response to elevation of the presser foot shaft, engages the cam lip3| and thereby swings the member 29 in a direction to cause its finger36 to flex the spring arm 21 away from the thread clamping disk 26. Inother words, the finger 53 serves the same purpose, in response toelevation of the presser foot shaft l6, as the pin 32 on the lever 24serves in response to actuation of said lever to elevate the presserfoot shaft. The finger 53 is, of course,

positioned on the shaft l6 so that when said' shaft is lowered themember 29 is released and the thread tensioning means thereby isrendered operative. Thus it is apparent that the thread tensioning meansis released or rendered in oper-' ative simultaneously with lifting ofthe presser foot and is rendered operative simultaneously with loweringof the presser foot. Thus, too, it is apparent that the lever 26 is notessential and 'may be omitted. However, said lever 24 prefercircuit ofthe motor I 2 open, and to which said r lever is returned whenever it isreleased following its actuation to close the motor circuit. In

this connection and in accordance with the present invention, means isprovided whereby swing-' ing of the knee-lever to close the motorcircuit shifts the bar 36 and the rod 4| to release the presser footshaft for movement by its spring H to its lowered or operative position,and whereby release of said knee-lever to open the motor circuitreleases the bar 36 and the rod 4| forreturn by the spring 46 topositions in which the presser foot shaft is held raised or inoperative.Thus, simultaneously with application of power to the sewing machine,the presser foot is low-' ered to its operative position and the threadtensioning device I8 is rendered operative, while simultaneously withcutting off of power to the sewing machine, the presser foot is raisedandthe thread tensioning means is released.

The means whereby actuation of the kneelever 55 actuates the bar 36 andthe rod 4| in the manner stated, comprises a horizontally disposed,forwardly and rearwardly extending shaft 56 rotatably mounted insuitable bearings 51 secured, for example, to the inner face of one endwall 58 of the cabinet structure A and having upwardly and downwardlyextending arms 59 and 66, respectively, the former of which is providedwith a roller 6| or other suitable means disposed for cooperation withthe inner end of the bar 36 when the'drop-head B is in its raised oroperative position, and the latter of which has extending inwardlytherefrom a rod 62 equipped at its inner end with a roller 63 or othersuitable means for cooperation with the knee-lever 55. A suitable spring64 tends constantly to rotate the shaft 56 in a direction to swing thearm 59 outwardly or away from the adjacent end of the bar 36 and toswing the arm 60 inwardly or toward the knee-lever 55, and thearrangement in this respect is such that under normal conditions or whenthe sewing machine i not being operated, the roller 63 is maintainedengaged with the knee-lever 55 and the roller 6| is maintained in aposition permitting the bar 36 to assume, under the influence of thespring 46, its aforesaid position in which the presser foot shaft I6 isheld in its raised or inoperation position. Thus, when.

the knee-lever 55 is actuated to close the motor circuit and start themachine, said lever acts through the rod 62 to swing the arm 66outwardly and the arm 59 inwardly, with the result that the arm 59pushes the bar 36 in a direction to release the presser foot shaft formovement to its lowered or operative position by its spring II. On theother hand, when the knee-lever is released to open the motor circuit,the springs 46 and 66 act immediately to restore the parts to theirnormal positions with consequent elevation of the presser foot to itsinoperative position and release of the thread tensioning means.

' Only a small amount of movement of the kneelever 55 is required toactuate the bar 36 to permit lowering of the presser foot to itsoperative position, whereas considerable additional movement of saidlever may be required to obtain all different speeds of operation of themotor l2 and of the sewing machine. In this connection it is desirablethat only an initial, small amount of movement of the knee lever 55 fromits normal position be required to permit lowering of the presser footand that said lever shall thereafter be effective to hold the bar 36 inpresser-foot released position regardless of any additional movement ofsaid lever to control the speed of operation of the sewing machine.Accordingly, there preferably is provided on said knee-lever aprojection 65 which is so shaped that in response to an initial, smallamount of swinging movement of said knee-lever in a direction to closethe motor circuit, it cooperates with the roller 63 to swing the arms 59and 60 to shift the bar 36 and the rod 4| to release the presser footshaft for movement to its lowered, operative position, and thereafterrides'over said roller and, while continuing to cooperate therewith tomaintain the bar 36 and the rod shifted to presser foot shaft releasedpositions, is freely movable to actuate the. rheostat 54 to vary thespeed of operation of the motor I2. In short, the projection 65 has'a-face 66 which is concentric to the pivot 6'! of the kneelever 55 andwhich engages the roller 63 following pushing of said roller by saidprojection to not only is necessary that the presser foot and theneedlebar be raised and that the thread tensioning means he released,but that the thread take-up arm l9 be raised to permit free withdrawalof a portion of the thread. Heretofore, unless a sewing machine happenedby chance to stop in a position with the thread take-up arm and theneedle bar raised, it was necessary to grasp the hand-wheel'of themachine and to manually rotate same to raise the thread take-up arm andthe needle bar. However, the present invention includes means to insurestopping of the sewing machine in a position with the thread take-up armand the needle bar raised and thus eliminates any necessity ofthe manualoperation heretofore required to accomplish this purpose. In thisconnection and according to the invention, there is mounted upon the rod4| an arm 68 carrying a hub member 69 through which the main drive shaftIll loosely extends whereby it is freely rotatable relative to said hubmember and whereby said hub member is freely movable longitudinallyalong said shaft. At its outer end said .hub member is provided with-anannular flange i0, while rotatablymounted on the inner end portion ofsaid hub member is a drum H having an outwardly extending annular flange12 which cooperates with the flange 10 to provide a chamber in which isdisposed a helical spring 13, one end of which is fastened. to said hubmember 69 and the other end of which is fastened to said drum H. In thehub member 69 is a channel 14 which extends almost entirely around saidhub member but whichv is interrupted by a stop formation 15, whilecarried by and accordingly is effective, upon inward movement of thedrum II, to pick up the lug l1 and through said lug to impart rotationto said drum in the same direction as said shaft. Preferably, the lug"I1 is provided with a small roller 80 for anti-friction cooperationwith the spiral face of the cam disk 19. However, the roller 8|! is notessential and may be omitted. Similarly, a spiral face on the cam diskis not essential and may be omitted. Preferably, however, said spiralface is provided to ease the drum II inwardly rather than to permit itto move suddenly inwardly with a hammer action under the influence ofthe spring 46.

Power is cut oif from the machine simultaneously with inward movement ofthe rod BI and the drum II, but when the power is cut ofi the movableparts of the machine do not immediately come to a state 'of rest. On thecontrary, they continue to move due to their momentum. Thus, when thepower is cut off, the drum 1| is coupled with the shaft II! byengagement of the shoulder 18 with the lug I1 and the momentum of saidshaft and of the movable parts connected thereto results in the drum 1|being rotated with said shaft, thereby adding winding or tension to thespring 13. If the machine has considerable momentum the drum may berotated until the pin 16 engages the side of the stop formation 15opposite the side which it normally engages, whereupon the machine willbe brought to a positve stop. If, on the other hand, the

' machine has only a minor amount of momentum spring 13 is wound ortensioned a suitable amount a and reacts from said hub member to tendconstantly to rotate the drum II in a direction counter to the normaldirection of rotation of the shaft l0 and to the limit of rotation ofsaid drum in said direction-as determined by engagement of the pin 16with the stop formation 15.

Extending inwardly from the inner end of the drum II is a lug 11 forcooperation with a spiral cam face, including an abrupt radial orsubstantially radial shoulder 18, on the adjacent end of a disk 19 whichis fixed to the main drive shaft H! for rotation therewith. The assemblycomprising the hub member 69 and the drum TI is, of course, shiftablewith the rod 4|, and when said rod is shifted outwardly to permitlowering of the presser foot 52 the said assembly is shifted to aposition as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings in which the lug 11 isdisposed out of the path of rotation of the cam face and shoulder oftheit may stop before the pin 16 engages the said opposite side of thestop formation 15. In any event, the spring 13 then will act ,to returnthe v drum II to its normal position with the pin I6 disposed againstthe first mentioned side of the stop formation 15, and in doing so will,of course, impart reverse rotation to the shaft I0. In this connectionit is pointed out that the angular disposition of the cam disk relativeto the shaft I0 is such that when the shoulder 18 of said cam disk isengaged with the lug I1 and the r drum II is in its normal position, theposition of rotation of the shaft |0 is such that the thread take-uplever l9 and the needle bar 33 are raised. Accordingly, whenever powerto the machine is cut off, the momentum of the machine abnormallytensions the spring 1 3 and said spring, by its return to normaltension, brings the shaft I0 to a position of rotation with the threadtake-up arm and the needle bar raised.

To insure against the spring 13 reversely rotating the shaft' ||l beyonda position in which the thread take-up lever and the needle bar areraised, the drum 1| is provided with a pin 8| which enters a recess 82in the cam disk 19 when the shoulder 18 contacts with the lug '11. Thus,said pin 8| acts to stop reverse rotationof the shaft |0 by the spring13 at the instant the drum II is returned to its normal position by saidspring 13. The pin 8| is depressible and i yieldably urged outwardlyrelative to the drum 'so that it is depressed by the spiral face of thecam disk 19 during rotation of said disk relative to the drum II and asa result of movement of said drum toward said cam disk, and then snapsinto the recess 82 at the instantthe shoulder I8 engages the lug 11.

In order to avoid the necessity of providing a verystrong spring 13 forthe purpose stated, it

is desirable to provide means to operatively disconnect the motor 2 fromthe swing machine simultaneouslywith inward movement of the rod knownmanner.

ti to elevate the presser foot so that the spring is will not berequired to operate the motor as well as the main drive shaft l0.sirable to operatively disconnect the motor I2 from the sewing machineupon movement of the rod 8| to elevate the presser foot in order tosecure fullest advantage of the momentum of the movable parts of thesewing machine in additionally winding or energizing the spring 13following cutting-off of power to the machine: Accordingly, means isprovided whereby inward movement of the rod 4| to elevate the presserfoot swings the motor I! to disengage its friction wheel l4 from thehand-wheel II. This means comprises simply a strut 83 pivoted at itsinner end to the rod 4| and suitably engaged at its outer end with themotor l2, as, for example, in a socket member 84 carried by the motor.The strut 83 is of a length such that when the rod 8| is shiftedinwardly to lift the presser foot said strut approaches a position atright angles to said rod 4| and thereby swings the motor l2 outwardlysufilciently to disengage its friction wheel M from the hand-wheel II,and when said rod 4| is shifted outwardly to release the presser footsaid strut 83 assumes an angular position released, the thread take-uparm I 9 is raised, the motor I2 is operatively disconnected from thesewing machine and the needle bar 33 is raised due to being connectedwith the cam block 23 in'the usual manner to be raised when said threadtake-up arm is raised. It will be equally apparent that upon movement ofthe knee-lever 55 to initiate operation of the machine, the mo- Also, itis detor 2 will be started and will be released to be swung by thespring l5 into driving relationship to the sewing machine, the drum 69will be shifted to disengage its lug from the shoulder 18, the presserfoot will be released to be moved to its lowered or operative positionby the spring Ill, and the thread tensioning device l8 will be renderedoperative. Further, it will be apparent that following any given periodof operation of the sewing machine and upon release of the knee-lever55, the circuit of the motor II will be opened, said motor will beoperatively disconnected from the machine, the presser foot 52 will beraised, the thread tensioning device will be released and the machinewill be brought to rest with the thread take-up arm l8 and the needlebar raised in the manner previously described. Thus, the mechanismcomprising the invention obviously provides for accomplishingautomatically various operations which heretofore necessitated manualperformance at the loss of valuable time and, at the same time, rendersthe machine fool-proof in respect to the performance of said operations.

While not essential, means preferably is provided to render themechanism constituting the invention inoperative so that the sewingmachine may be operated, if desired, in the heretofore For accomplishingthis purpose any suitable means may be provided for moving the bar 36and the rod 4| to, and holdingthem in, presser foot releasing positions.In the present instance the'means for this purpose comprises a lever 85pivoted intermediate its ends and connected at one end to the arm 48 ofthe bell-crank. lever 49 so that it is swingable to shift the bar 36 andthe rod 4| to presser-foot releasing positions. The other end of saidlever extends through a slot in a cover plate 88 carried by the pedestaland said slot includes an offset portion or notch 81 into which thesecond mentioned end portion of said lever may be engaged to hold saidbar and rod in presserfoot releasing positions.

In some instances the machine may be operating very slowly when thepower thereto is cut off, and in that event the movable parts of themachine may not have sufficient momentum to cause the describedmomentum-responsive means to Accordingly, means is provided to insureagainst cutting off of power to the machine until the rod 4| has reachedsubstantially its limit of inward movement, by which time the shoulder18 will have contacted the lug 11 and will have imparted at least slightrotation to the drum 1| even though the speed of operation of themachine may be quite slow. This means comprises a hook 88 carried by thearm 59 and cooperating with a pin 89 on the adjacent end of the bar 36,said hook and pin acting to hold the knee-lever 55 against movement to aposition to open the motor circuit until the bar 36 and, consequently,the rod 4| have reached practically their limits of inward shiftingmovement, by which time, as aforesaid, the shoulder 78 has engaged thelug I! and the drum 'II has had at least 'a small amount of rotationimparted thereto. The hook 88 opens downwardly so as not tointerferewith downward swinging movement of the drop-head B from itsraised or operative position to its lowered or stored position, and sothat the pin 89 becomes operatively engaged therewith upon upwardswinging movement of the drop-head from its lowered or stored positionto its raised or operative position. Any suitable means may be providedto permit the drop-head B to be swung between raised and loweredpositions and to support the same in its raised position. In thisconnection and by way of example, the front portion A of the cabinetstructure A is illustrated in Fig. 4 as being hinged to the end wall 58of said cabinet structure for inward and outward swinging movement andas including a top wall portion a the inner edge portion of whichunderlies the outer edge portion of the base 3! of the drop-head B whensaid drop-head is in its raised position and said cabinet portion A isin its inwardly swung position, thereby supporting said drop-head in itsraised position. When the portion A is swung outwardly the drop-head Bis released to swing downwardly'to its lowered position, after which thesaid portion A may be returned to its inwardly swung position. On theother hand, when it is desired to raise the drop-head and support samein its raised position, the cabinet portion A first is swung outwardly,the drop-head B then is swung upwardly to its raised position, and thecabinet portion A then is returned to its inwardly swun position inwhich the inner edge of its top portion a underlies the front edge ofthe base 31 of the drop-head.

Without further description it is thought that the features andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and it will, of course, be understood that changes in the form,proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. In a sewing machine, a head, a presser foot mounted in said head formovement between raised.and lowered positions, spring means tendingconstantly to lower said presser foot, a pivoted finger operable byswinging movement in one direction to raise said presser foot and byswinging movement in an opposite direction to release said presser footfor lowering by its spring means, a motor for operating the machine, alever-operated switch for opening and closing the circuit of said motor,and means operable in response to motor-circuit-opening actuation ofsaid switch lever to swing said finger to raise said presser foot and inresponse to motor circuit closing actuation of said switch lever toswing said finger to release said presser foot for lowering by itsspring means.

2. In a sewing machine, a supporting structure, a drop-head mounted onsaid supporting structure for movement between raised and loweredoperative and inoperative positions, respectively, a motor for drivingthe machine, a lever-operated switch carried by the supporting structurefor opening and closing the circuit of said motor, said machineincluding a presser foot vertically movable between raised and loweredpositions,

spring means tending constantly to effect lowering of said presser foot,means carried by the drop head for raising the presser foot and holdingthe same raised and for releasing same for movement to its loweredposition by said spring means,.and means whereby raising of the dropheadto its operative position establishes an operative connection betweenthe switch lever and said first named means so that said first namedmeansis operable in response to motor-circuitopening actuation of saidswitch lever to raise said presser foot and hold same raised and inresponse to motor-circuit-closing actuation of said switch lever torelease said presser foot for movement to its lowered position by saidspring means.

3. In a sewing machine, a supporting structure, a drop-head mounted onsaid supporting structure for movement between raised and loweredoperative and inoperative positions, respectively, a motor for drivingthe machine, a lever-.

operated switch carried by the supporting structure for opening andclosing the circuit of said motor, a vertically reciprocable needle barcarried by said drop-head, means operable in response to the momentum ofthe moving parts of the machine following cutting-off of power theretoto bring, the needle bar to rest in a raised position, and means wherebyraising of the drophead to its operative position establishes anoperative connection between the switch lever and said momentumresponsive means so that the latter is rendered inoperative in responseto motor-circuit-closing actuation of said switch lever and is renderedoperative in response to motorcircuit-opening actuation of said switchlever.

4. In a sewing machine, a head, a drive shaft journaled in said head,power means for rotating said shaft, switch means controlling said powermeans, a vertically reciprocable needle bar carried by said head andoperatively connected with said shaft for reciprocation by rotation ofthe'latter, a non-rotatable hub member on said shaft with respect towhich said shaft is rotatable, a drum mounted on said hub memshaft andwhereby actuation of said switch means to cut offpower to said shaftactuates, said clutch means to couple said drum to said shaft'forrotation therewith relative to said hub member by the momentum of saidshaft and the movingparts of the machine, a spring connecting said drumwith said hub member to be energized by momentum rotation of said shaftand drum following actuation of said switch means to cut off power tosaid shaft and accompanying coupling of said drum to said shaft andeffective upon completion of momentum-rotation of said shaftto rotatesaid shaft counter to its normal direction of rotation until said drumreaches its limit of' rotative movement relative to said hub member, theclutch means for coupling said drum to said shaft having a relationshipto said needle bar such that when said drum and shaft are rotated bysaid spring to the limit of rotation of said drum relative to said hubmember the position of said shaft is such that the needle bar is'raised.

5. In a sewing machine, a head,-a drive shaft journaled in said head, amotor for rotating said shaft, a vertically reciprocable needle barcarried by said head and operatively connected with said shaft forreciprocation by rotation of the latter,

a non-rotatable hub member mounted on said respect thereto, meanswhereby movement of said hub member and drum in one direction along saidshaft couples said drum to said shaft for rotation therewith and in theopposite direction uncouples said drum from said shaft, a leveroperatedswitch for opening and closing the circuit of said motor, an operativeconnection between said switch lever and said hub member whereby thelatter is shifted along said shaft to couple the latter with said drumin response to motor-circuit-opening actuation of said lever and wherebysaid hub member is shifted along said shaft to uncouple said drum fromsaid shaft in response to motor-circuit-closing actuation of said lever,a spring connecting .said drum with said hub member to be energized bymomentumrotation of said shaft and drum following motorcircuit-openingactuation of said lever and effective upon completion ofmomentum-rotation of said shaft to rotatesaid shaft counter to itsnormal direction of rotation until said drum reaches its limit ofrotative movement relative to said hub member, the means for couplingsaid drum to said shaft having a relationship to said needle bar suchthat when said drum and shaft are rotated by said spring to the limit ofrotation of said drum relative to said hub member the position of saidshaft is such that the needle bar is raised.

6. A sewing machine as set forth in claim 5 including a connectionbetween the switch lever and the motor whereby the motor is operativelydisconnected from the drive shaft in response to actuation of the switchlever to open the motor circuit and to operate said clutch means tocouple the drum with said drive shaft.

SAMUEL B. BILGER.

